Thread guide



- NOV. 6, 1945. I C JR Q 2,388,239

THREAD GUIDE Filed M21127, 1944 IN VEN TOR;

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ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 6, 1945 v UNITED STATES TlIBEAD GUIDE"Application May 27, 1944, Serial No. 531,143

,4 Claims.

- This invention relates to an improved thread tendency of a previouslylaced guide becoming unlaced while lacing oithe' subsequent guides isbeing performed. A further object of the invention is to provide a formof guide which can be laced by simp1e,d irect motion of the operator inpassing the thread through an open channel without the necessity toforce the mouth of the guide to spread open by forcing the thread itselftherebetween. A further object is to provide a guide in which the threadis entered through a tree channel but in which the guide is soconstructed and arranged that after beinglaced, the thread cannot escapefrom the operative zone of the guide through th free channel except bythe deliberate action of the operator. Other ob- Jects and advantages ofthe invention will be apparent from the drawing and description thereofhereinafter. y

In the drawing, which is illustrative of the invention, I

Figure 1 is a plan view of'a simple formof guide in accordance with theinvention,

Figure 2 is'a side elevation of theguide'oi Figure 1, 1

Figure 3 is a front elevation of the guide of Figure 1, and

Figure 4 is a plan view of a modification.

As shown in' Figures 1 to 3, the guide may be formed from a single pieceof wire which is bent back upon itself at 2 in a hair pin turn." Theregion of the guide adjacent the hair pin turn 2 i may be mounted in asuitable support and for this purpose, it is embedded in a block 3, LTheguide thus comprises two, laterally spaced mem-' bers, legs, prongs, orthelike 4 and 8 extending outwardly ir'om the block 3 and having freeends terminating near each other. Oneend or one or the tree prongs maybe spread outwardly at t whereas the other has a portion 1 which is bentback upon itseli and to one side over the former pron! bent outwardly.

' Q 'l'hus, the guide has an entrance adjacent the point where, thatprong- 1 8 bounded b two sloped surfaces 9 and I. which converge, whenviewed from above as in Figure 1, to the point where the reversely bentportion 1 crosses over above the other prong to form the free passageway 8 the reversely bent rtion l of the prong 5 is turned backwardlyfrom themain thread guidin or confining portion or shank of'that prongso that in case of any traversin oithe thread along and between the mainguiding surfaces along the shanks of the two prongs, the rear-wardinclination of this overhanging reversel bent portion serves to limitthe outward motion of the thread and prevent it from becoming dislodgedfrom the guide. v a

In lacing up the guide; the operator, assuming the thread proceeds froman unwinding package or other source below the guide, merely. draws thethread upwardly between the two-converging surfaces 9 and In atithemouth of the. guide, over the outwardly turned end 6 of the first prongI and backbeyond the point of overcrossing of the reversely bent portion1 of the second prong 5 so that the yarn is guided directly through thefree channel 8." This lacing motion is a substantially direct motion andrequires no careful swinging oi the thread through an peculiar are sincethe moment the thread during the rearward motion imparted by the hand orthe operator touches the guidlngsuriace ,9 presented by "the reverselybent portion of .the second prong, ,.-'it isguided thereby back over andacross the other prong 4 and thence into the free channel 0existingbetween said prong and the overhangmg .reversely bent portionand continuance of the motion oi'the thread caused by further travel ofthe hand of the operator causes it to slide around the end of thereversely bent portion I and then to fall into the'm'ain guide wayformed 40 between the two prongs. The guide oi Figures 1 s, to 3 shouldpreferably be arranged so that any ballooningot the thread occurstherebelow. I: the guide is to be placed below a zone of the yarnpreferable to mount the guide so I versely bent portion I is'beneath theoutwardly bent portion of the other prong (that is, directly opposite tothat shown in Figures l-to 3).

' Qaand villa. which serve to guide the entrance of and I: at theirouter ends to reduce the liability of injury .of the operators Icatching or their f A'rsNr or-Pica";

,I'he rear surface-ll ot subject to considerable-ballooning, it would bethat'the re Figure 4 shows a modification in which the tw F outerportions or the prongs having the surfaces j fid' clothes upon theguides. Inadditiom a bight i4 is formed'in one of the-prongs at anydesired from the adjoining yarn confining-surface of the prong in whichthe bight is formed. In this manner, there is notendency for the threadto slide underthe bight l4 between it and the'other prong 5d. While thebight I! which limits the rear-ward travel of the thread is shown to beformed infthe prong other than that in which the reversely bent portion1a is formed at the entrance to. the guide, it may, if desired, beformed in the same prong as the reversely bent portion at the entrance.In either case, it will be noted that the bent portions are bent towardeach other in'order to obtain the proper inclination of the threadlimiting surfaces Ila and I5 with respect to the prongs from which thebent portions extend. An eye 16 may be formed in the guide to enable itto be secured to a suitable support or mounting bracket.

With respect to the embodiment shown in Figure 4, the bight I4 may beformed any distance back of the reversely bent portion la at theentrance, thus permitting or restricting the amount of traverse withinthe guide to a predetermined distance. While the shanks of theguidehaving the main thread guiding or confining surfaces are shownsubstantially straight and parallel in Figures 1 and 4, they may becurved to form a thread guiding eye of any cross sectional shape, suchas triangular, elliptical, or substantially circular.

The guide may be made of wire but is not to be restricted as to thematerial of which it can be made. I

It is to be understood that variations and modifications of my inventionmay be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. asdefined in the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A thread guide having two -members each having a free end near thatof the other and being spaced apart along a. portion of their lengthsextending inwardly from the free ends face adjacent the end of the othermember to provide in conjunction therewith an entrance for the thread,and said bent portion having an inner thread guiding surface inclinedinwardly provide a main thread-guiding passage therebeto'pro'vide a,thread passage therebetween, one of said members being turned back uponitself and to one side so that it overhangs the other member adjacentits end, said bent portion presenting an outerthread-guidingsurfacefacing -totween, one of the members being turned back upon itselfand to one side so that it overhangs the other member adjacent its endand is spaced therefrom to provide a free passage for the threadtherebetween, 'the bent portion presenting an outer thread-guidingsurface facing to-' being inclined from a perpendicular to itsrespective member toward the portion thereof intermediate the bentportions and each being turned to oneside so that it overhangs themember other than that in which it is formed, thread uiding surfacesbeing provided on the inner portions of the members facing each other toprovide a thread-guiding passage.

4. A thread guide comprising two laterally. spaced members, two bentportions formed in and spaced alon said members, said bent portions'being inclined from a perpendicular to its respective member toward theportion thereof intermediate the bent portions and each being turned toone side so that it overhangs the member other than that in which it isformed, thread guiding surface being provided on the inner portions ofthe members facing each other to provide athread-guiding passage, themembers each terminating in a free end beyond one of said bent portions,said one bent end portion presentingan outer thread-guiding surfacefacin toward and converging with a thread-guiding surface adjacent theend of the other member to provide in conjunction therewith an entrancefor the thread, and said bent end portion being spaced from the othermember where it overhangs it to provide a free passage for the threadfrom the entrance to the main thread-guiding passage between the twobent portions.

' FERDINAND A. DECKER, JR.

